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NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 39741)
Track NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) (NORAD catalog number 39741) live on the WatchSat interactive 3D globe above. Its position is propagated in real time from the latest CelesTrak two-line element set using the SGP4/SDP4 orbital model — the same math professional trackers run. It has been on orbit since 2014, launched on the 26th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2014-026A). As of this element set it had completed roughly 9,018 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 3.89 km/s, NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) operates in medium Earth orbit at roughly 20,086–20,294 km altitude, taking about 12.0 hours per revolution (2.01 orbits a day). The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0039). Inclined 56.5° to the equator, it overflies every latitude up to about 56° north and south. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 328.3°.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | medium Earth orbit (MEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~20,086 km × 20,294 km |
| Inclination | 56.45° |
| Orbital period | 718.0 min (2.01 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00391 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2014-026A |
| NORAD catalog number | 39741 |
This page's orbital elements come from the CelesTrak catalog of 2026-09-08. The live 3D view above fetches its own current CelesTrak data when the page opens, through an edge cache that refreshes roughly every 30 minutes.
About the Navigation group
NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) is part of the US GPS (NAVSTAR) fleet — one of 173 global-navigation satellites in the WatchSat catalog across GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou. GNSS spacecraft broadcast precise time signals from orbits around 20,000 km up; a phone fixes its position by comparing several of them at once. See the whole navigation group live in 3D.
Can you see NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) from the ground?
Not with the naked eye. At its altitude NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) is far beyond unaided visibility — following satellites this high takes a telescope and good timing. You can still track it precisely in the live 3D view above, or check pass predictions for your location.
Related satellites
Nearest catalog neighbors of NAVSTAR 70 (USA 251) in the Navigation group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- COSMOS 2492 [GLONASS-M] (NORAD 39620)
- NAVSTAR 69 (USA 248) (NORAD 39533)
- GSAT-14 (NORAD 39498)
- COSMOS 2500 [GLONASS-M] (NORAD 40001)
- NAVSTAR 71 (USA 256) (NORAD 40105)
- GSAT0201 (GALILEO 5) (NORAD 40128)
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